Machines and Fire
by Xmenfan23
Summary: Abused, alone, and forgotten, Taylor Wagner has to come out of her empty shell and start her new life
1. Chapter 1

**A/N First chap coming at you! Quick! Duck and read! ;)**

"So.. Six", Rex asked," Where are we going?"

Six, Rex's' handler, gave him an annoyed look "We're piking up an evo that Providence got a call a about".

"You mean, Providence is taking in a destructive monster with no questions asked?" The 15 year old yelled. Six nodded his head.

"Cool." Rex exclaimed.

It took a long time for the two to get to the destination, when they did, Rex was perplexed. The place was a mental hospital! Six instructed Rex to follow him into the building. They were stopped by one of the nurses. "Are you the ones from Providence?" she asked. The agent nodded and the nurse told them to follow her. "You must understand one thing gentlemen", she said," Do not get to close to her or you might get hurt"

Rex perked up at the mention of "her" and decided this would make life at Providence might get better.

The nurse led Six and Rex past many doors until they reached room number "665". One of the doctors was standing in front of the door and dismissed the nurse. He opened the door slowly and called "Taylor, you have visitors" Rex peeked in a saw in the corner a trembling girl with a ring of fire floating above her.

**A/N Yes I know it was short and I have no knowledge on mental hospitals. Next chapter is coming soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Taylor" the Doctor called again. She slowly looked up, with eyes full of fear. "These two are from Providence", the doc explained," They're here to take you there." Taylor started to shake again and the ring of fire was spinning faster. The Doctor called in one of the nurses and he turned and talked to Six and Rex.

"You must understand that she hasn't had that much contact with other people"

"Do you have any information on her backround?" Six asked.

"Unfortunately, no" the doc answered, " She won't talk to anyone".

Rex was getting board with the conversation and stepped into the room, nearly running into the nurse.

"Oh, sorry"

"Can you please step back kid?" She bitterly asked.

He backed away slowly as she led Taylor out of the room. Six and Rex followed her out.

Gently, the nurse led Taylor into the jet. "Remember gentlemen", the nurse said,"Don't get too close or she might freak out".

Six nodded and Rex looked wide eyed at Taylor. She was shaking and hugging her knees with the ring of fire spinning above her head. Rex and Six slowly went inside. Six flew the jet while Rex sat across from Taylor. He guessed that she was not going to talk, so Rex just observed her. He noticed her eyes were a fine mixture of blue and green, and she had bright blue in her hair. Rex wondered where she got those since it was unlikely she went to a hair dresser.

He kept wondering about her until they reached Providence. Doctor Holiday was waiting for them in the lab.

"So is this the girl?"

"Yes", Six answered, "Just be careful around her, she's doesn't like people that much"

Holiday looked over his shoulder and spotted the shaking teen, and looked back at Six and sighed.

"Please send her to the lab, Six".

**A/N See? I made this chap longer. Look out for the next one and as always, R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N People have been raging on me to make chaps longer, so here is my long one. Enjoy!**

Six looked back at the trembling girl and told her to follow him, including Rex. Taylor took a shaky step forewords and followed them into the lab. She scanned the room with her eyes and took in everything. There were computers, a large amount of machines, and so much more. Instead of being impressed, she was frightened. Taylor had no idea what these people did to evos, so she panicked. Rex noticed her shaking again and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, she jumped slightly and turned her head to him. Rex gave her a small smile and she returned it.

"You can leave her with me Six" Doctor Holiday instructed.

"Just be careful"

She nodded and watched him tell Rex they had to leave. He groaned but walked out. Holiday slowly walked toward Taylor, telling her to sit on the examination table; With some coaxing, she did sit. "Alright Taylor", Holiday said, " I need to know what your abilities are"

"I..I can con..control and uh.. produce f..fire."

"Can you please show me?"

Taylor nodded and snapped her fingers. Blue and red fire suddenly appeared, rose in the air, and slowly started to spin in the air. She also made them into shapes; cubes, spheres, and a small dog. Holiday was impressed as it seemed Taylor had been practicing using her abilities already. "Can you make the fire disappear?" Holiday asked. Taylor nodded and slowly made the flames dissipate.

Holiday regretted what she had to do next,"I know you might hate this" she warned, "But I need to get a blood sample"

Taylor's eyes flooded with fear and started to shake violently as Holiday pulled out the needle. Holiday had a lot of sympathy for the poor girl but she needed to do this. Gently, Holiday came towereds Taylor which only worsened her fear. Panicking, Taylor started to back up, saying quietly, "Pl...please... stay away." Holiday sighed, she had to get a blood sample to study her nanites but she had no idea how to without Taylor getting even more panicky.

"Taylor, you need to calm down, this will be over before you know it". It seemed to work for she slowly stuck out her arm and hugged her knees to her chest. Holiday quickly stuck the needle in Taylor's arm and pulled it back out.

"That wasn't so bad", Holiday quipped, "Was it?"

Taylor glared at her.

**A/N ****heh****. I like the ending. Was this ****chappie**** long enough for my readers? Tell by R&R**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N I've decided to reward my readers for all their wonderful reviews by finally telling about Taylor's past. Don't blame for any tears or shocks that come to you. Enjoy!**

Holiday lead Taylor out of the lab to a strangely patient Rex. Holiday gave him a strange look before asking, "What are you doing here?"  
"Uh, Six told me to wait for Taylor to come out so I can take her to her room" Holiday nodded and turned towards Taylor. She looked like she was okay with it so Holiday let Rex take her. The pair walked quietly down the hallway until they reached Taylor's room. She walked up to the door and pressed the button next to the door frame. The door opened with a whoosh and she peeked inside.  
The room was almost completely white except for bed covers and the frame of the TV.  
"I'm guessing you want to be alone for now, right?"  
Taylor jumped for she had forgotten Rex was even there. She turned around and nodded slowly. Rex turned to go back to the lab. She closed to door after he left and flopped down on the bed. "How did this even happen?", she thought, "One minute, I'm in a mental hospital, the next I'm in a huge Providence base, how?" Tears sprung to her eyes as her whole past flashed in her mind  
_Flashback:_  
She was five years old, standing in front of a big black coffin. Her mother had died in a car accident and was instantly killed. She looked up at her father, who had tears coming out of his eyes. A crowd of people was standing around her, whispering or staying quiet. Looking back up at her dad, she noticed he was glaring now, at her. She put her head down, trying to avoid his gaze. She trembled fore she knew what would happen when she got home.  
_5 years later:  
_She was hiding under her bed, trying to hide from the beast that was her father. It was a miracle she had been surviving for five years, enduring the numerous beatings, ignoring the hundreds of cuts and bruises that covered her arms, face, and back. Small tears were slowly coming out of her eyes and a whimper escaped her lips as she heard foot steps outside her door. The door creaked open and a voice was heard "Were are you you little brat!" His foot steps were nearing the bed, she felt a hand on her ankle, he found her.  
_2 months later:  
_All she remembered was a bright light engulfing the house. She heard her dad scream in pain as he fell to the ground, unmoving. All she felt was a sudden warmth inside her that seemed to be protecting her from the danger around her. The bright light was gone in minutes but the damage wasn't. She crawled over to her father, noticing that he was cold and not breathing. A small prayer of thanks escaped her as she thanked the light. Her father was dead, she was free. Slowly, she walked out of her house that had once been her prison. Looking back, she started for the nearest house to finally get help.  
_3 years later:  
_She had been staying with a foster home since she was ten. She always enjoyed the feeling of safety she had every day, knowing that no one would ever hurt her again. If they ever tried, they would be in for a surprise. After a month of living in foster home, she discovered she could do a wonderful thing. Control fire. She had been snapping her fingers to her favorite song when she noticed a warm feeling in her hand. She looked, a blue flame was flickering in her hand. It did not hurt, she did not scream, she smiled at the little flame. She mastered her ability in three days. Finally, was she truly happy. For the moment.  
_1 year later:  
_She had playing with a fire puppy when her foster mom came in. She tried to tell her mother that every thing was alright but her mother screamed, "Get away from me you evo freak!" and ran into the house. She was so confused, why was her mother scared, she wasn't a freak. There were many people that had powers, she heard about them in the news. She wandered into her foster home and saw strange men in white talking to her mother. Her mother pointed at her and the men went towards her. She ran as fast as she could out of the house. She was almost to the edge of the yard before she felt the needle pierce her skin. Her vision went black and she hit the sidewalk.  
_1 year later:  
_She was sitting quietly in her room as a Doctor walked in. He was a kind man that was always trying to get her to talk, to tell them what happened four years ago. She had refused to talk to anyone when she was admitted into the mental hospital. She trusted no one, they all wanted to hurt her. Even the Doctor wanted to, he hadn't yet, but he will she was sure of it. The other people here never talked to her, only the Doctor did. Creepy men with clip boards were constantly trying to get her to talk about what happened to her. They never left her alone, not for one minute of the day. Once they were so annoying, she purposely melted one's clip board. They were so freaked out, they ran out of her room. She was left alone for three days until Rex and Six came.

_Back to the present:_

Her only happy memory was coming to Providence. She thanked god that she met Six and Rex. Holiday might get some getting use to. The needle would not be forgotten easily.

**A/N There you have it folks. Taylor's past. Thank you all for reviewing, favoring, and reading. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N I'm going to a time jump by a week here. All she does is stay in her room or in the lab. Enjoy!**

Taylor jumped at the sound of Six coming in her room, as he has done for the past seven days.  
"I have orders from White" he began, " He made it very clear that you must start training or you will be put back in the hospital". She widened her eyes in fear at his words but slowly stood up and followed him out the door. The trip to the training room was mostly silent until Rex joined them.  
"Where ya going?" he asked.  
Before Taylor even had a chance to reply, Six replied, "Training" in a mono-tone voice.  
"You think she's ready to?" he spotted her annoyed face and added, "Shes never really fought before"  
"White ordered her to start today"  
Taylor sighed for she was tired of being ignored and said, " Look, I know I can't fight, but I'll learn, and you," she looked at Six, "I can speak for myself" She looked back down at her feet while Rex and Six gave her strange looks, wondering what the heck just happened.  
The three of them finally made it down to the training area and Six told Taylor to go inside. He and Rex went inside the control room. Taylor looked around nervously in the large metal room, her eyes taking in every detail of the room. It was big, cold, and metal. She flinched at the sound of Six's voice coming from a speaker," Your main objective is to attack your opponents using your ability and physical combat for five minutes. If you are hit and can't get back up, you will be taken to the infirmary. Got it?" Taylor nodded slowly and Six added, "Good then get ready".

She breathed deeply, snapped her fingers, and let the two small flames travel from her thumbs to the palms of her hands. Concentrating hard, the small flames grew bigger and a wicked smile slowly grew on her face. She heard a hiss come from a large metal door in front of her, about twenty metal robots rolled out. She ran towered them and shot a the blue flame at one of them. It speared the robot right in the middle and a large hole was visible, it fell instantly. The ones that were left shot lasers, rockets, and all sorts of explosives at her. She handled them all with ease, as the flames were shot with frighting perfection and all the robots were down in ten minutes.  
Both Six and Rex were shocked at this display. Taylor did not seem like the type to be able to fight so well. She was so quiet, shy, and didn't think about violent things. Six called her into the control room to ask her a few questions. Taylor silently walked in with a worried expression and looked nervously at Six.  
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked  
"No you did absolutely nothing wrong", he replied, "But I must ask, where did you learn to fight like that?"

She gave him a perplexed look before answering him, "Ummm...I don't really know. I've never fought in my life" Now it was Rexs turn to be confused, "So, you're telling us that you can shoot holes in robots without even thinking but you've never fought?" Taylor slowly nodded her head and Rex continued his rant, " I can't believe this! A mental patient just has this weird natural ability whereas it took me months of training to get to that level!" He silently walked over to a dark corner and fumed. Six shook his head in disbelief while walking out of the control room to who knows were. That left Taylor alone wondering if she should tell them the truth.  
**A/N: First, let me say I am sooo sorry that I took forever to update. I blame school, boyfriend, and family. Don't ask. Second, HA! Cliffhanger! Wonder what the truth is? I cant tell you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I have decided to make this chapter not only answer the cliffhanger but also please the romantic readers Enjoy!**

She stood in the middle of the cold, nearly silent room for about five minutes, listening to Rex's fuming. Taylor slipped out of the control room in a ninja like manor. So ninja like that it took Rex a few minutes to figure out she was gone. He sighed and hung his head, maybe he was a bit to harsh with Taylor. All she did was...well, nothing. He was just a tad jealous that she had seemed to master the test while it took him several months.  
After a few more minutes of thinking, he started searching for Taylor. It didn't take him to long since the only places she could be are the lab or her room. He first looked in the lab but got a little sidetracked since he spotted . In the smoothest way possible, he asked, "Sooo...have you seen a crazy person run through here?"  
Holiday responded in a sarcastic tone, "Besides you, no one"  
"Haha, very funny doc" Rex continued on his search for Taylor, which was taking longer than necessary.  
After what seemed like an eternity, he finally found her. She was laying in her room, staring dreamily at the ceiling while small loops of flame circled her head. "Um, Taylor, can I talk to you for a sec?" She acknowledged his presence with slowly turning her head to look at him. He continued,  
"Look, I'm really sorry about what I said earlier." Without waiting for her to say anything, he continued, "I was just a little jealous of your skill since it took me ages to finish the first test. Can you tell me how you did that?"  
Taylor rolled her eyes at his ability to change an apology into a demand. It took her minute to answer him, "Thank you for saying sorry to me but I do not wish to tell you how I knew exactly what to do, you are not ready to hear it" Her superior tone made Rex faulter as he did not expect a crazy person to talk like that. His mind tried to think of a good comeback but all of them sounded stupid so he decided to go for the question, "Well...can you tell me why I'm not ready to hear the reason?" Taylor laughed under her breath, it was obvious he was trying to hard to sound smart. Considering the answer in her head, she slowly explained, "You are not ready to hear because I do not fully trust you" Seeing the slight frown on his face, she continued, "Don't take it in a bad way, I mean you are a really great guy but I have a few trust issues". This response gave Rex an idea, she had called him a really great guy so maybe he would be lucky if he asked, "I can prove that you can trust me if you follow me".  
Slowly, the two teens snuck down the hallway while keeping a sharp eye out for either Six or Holiday. They had a few close calls since the place was crawling with agents, it took Rex and Taylor ten minutes to sneak out of Providence and into the outside world. Taylor covered her eyes with her arm as the sun's glare hit her eyes, "Can you please tell me how this will make me trust you more?" She was answered with the roar of engine and and Rex had transformed his lower body into a hovercraft, "Hop on" was all he said. Reluctantly, Taylor climbed on and absentmindedly wrapped her arms around Rex's waist. He reved the engine and they rode off in a clould of dust.  
She was terrified, not only was Rex going über fast but he was also suddenly swerving for no reason at all. Her face was pressed into his back to avoid the wind and her arms wrapped firmly around his waist so she would not fall off. Secretly, this gave him immense joy as she had never been this close to him. Sure, it was under terrifying circumstances but it was still nice. They had been flying for about a half hour before Rex stopped at a park. The park was big, had millions of trees and plants, and a huge clear lake nearby. Taylor looked around in a happy daze as everything was so beautiful and peaceful. She looked at Rex, "Why did you bring me here?" He still did not answer instead, he gently grabbed her hands and put one on his shoulder and keep holding the other one. His hand was on her waist and the other hand was in hers. He slowly started waltzing with her. Oddly, she made no resistance or an attempt to get away, she just followed along with what Rex was doing and seemed to enjoy it. They danced for a few minutes and sat underneath a tree. "If your wondering why I did all that", Rex started, "It was to gain your trust and to show you a good time" He flashed a smile at her and she blushed slightly. "You could have told me what you were doing"  
"But you wouldn't have come with me if I did" Rex responded. Taylor shrugged a little as she looked at she royal blue sky.  
"Would mind telling me now?" he asked. She slowly looked at him and gave him the whole truth. "When I discovered my powers at the age of 13, instead of being afraid, I was delighted. Every day I would go down to the park near my house and practice using my powers. I would create animals, shapes, and all sorts of things. I would also practice my target skills with makeshift targets and fallen trees. Over time, I became quite skilled with my powers...but I slipped up". She continued telling her story to Rex, who was listening intently to her story and feeling very sorry for her. He couldn't belive that she had been through so much over her life and that being discovered by him and Six is one of the few good things her life.  
It was a long time before they came back to Providence, no one had missed them as today was one of the few non-busy days they had. Both teens were in high spriets and quietly talking amongst themselves. Naturely, they were not looking where they going and bumped right into Six. He looked at them with an annoyed look and a grumpy sigh. Rex and Taylor fought back laughter and ran past him, laughing the whole way down. Six stared at them in disbelief, wondering what the heck went on between the two of them.  
**A/N: I'm proud of this one. It's longer, more detail, and a lot more going on. Plus it has a romance scene and Taylor sounded really smart.. REVIEW please**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm back! Sorry for not updating for so long, hope you enjoy :)**

Six continued to walk down the empty hallway, with millions of thoughts swimming around his skull. How did Rex make such a sullen, nervous girl laugh like she was actually happy? What happened that _caused_ the two of them to be so sickeningly happy? For once, Six wished he could understand teenagers better, it would make his life a little easier.

He decided to go talk to Holiday for a bit, he wanted to know if she had noticed anything different about Taylor. "No, I can't say I have", she said, "Why? Did something happen?" Six explained what he saw in the hallway and his confusion about Taylor's sudden change of attitude. Holiday thought for a moment, "Maybe they've just became friends and that's what made her so happy. Having a friend does tend to make people feel better" Six grunted, thanked her opinion, and walked out. He was still so confused, but he still wanted to figure out the true cause of her new attitude.  
Meanwhile, Rex and Taylor continued to talk as they walked down the hall, since they discovered how much they liked talking to each other.

"So what you're saying", Rex pondered," Is that a giant hamster that shot lasers could easily take down a giant bird that shot missiles?"

Taylor gave him an amused look, "Of course, a laser is more accurate than a missile" He laughed at the randomness of this conversation, but still tried to win the debate. He argued that missiles do greater damage and she argued that lasers did more damage. The conversation basically went on like that until they agreed to disagree.  
As they walked, Rex got an idea. "You've never been to the Petting Zoo, have you?" Lauren shook her head, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. He took her hand and led her to the Zoo. She amazed by what she could see from the outside. The forest like vegetation looked like nothing she had ever seen. A huge lizard like creature scurried past the glass, being followed by another creature. "Believe it or not but everything in there is an evo", Rex explained, "The only reason they haven't been cured is because they can't be. They're called the incurables"  
"Cure? What do you mean cure?"  
"Oh right, I didn't tell you yet. Besides being able to make machines, I can turn an evo back into a person just by touching them and telling my nanites to make that person better." She simply said, "Ah", even though she wanted to ask more. She decided she would later, as she wanted to go to the Petting Zoo very badly. With a quick tug on Rex's sleeve, they were off to the zoo.

**A/N: I know it's not much but I haven't been watching the show lately, I'm not sure how the characters are now. I'll have more at some point though.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Stay close", Rex warned, "Some of the things here aren't very friendly"

Taylor nodded, holding onto his arm. She listened to him explain everything he knew about the Petting Zoo and the creatures inside it. Taylor zoned out, only focusing on the Zoo itself. A huge metal tower loomed in the center of it all, flying bug like things zoomed around it. Small packs of evos wandered around together, solo creatures rested in the shade, and a huge reptile thing lazed around in a man-made lake. The pair trecked through the terrain, being careful to not disturb some of the more dangerous uncurables.

Meanwhile in the observation deck

"I just don't get it, Rebecca" sighed Six, "One minute, she won't talk to anybody. The next, she's laughing with Rex and wandering around with him"

"That, my dear Six" she playfully nudged him with her elbow, "Is what you call friendship...or a crush, depends on how you look at it."

"Whatever it is, I'm not sure about it. She's still unstable and hanging around him could be disastrous. I won't force them to seperate but I will keep both of them busy."

"And how will you accomplish that?" Holiday asked inquisitively

"Missions and training" He answered bluntly

Holiday sighed, she wasn't sure about Six's plan. Rex made Taylor feel happy and safe, why even try to take that away? He made such an impact on Taylor that she was slowly becoming more comfterable with talk to her. If Rex was suddenly taken away, Holiday was worried that all that progress would reverse and she would go back to being shy and distant.

A sudden scream snapped her out of her thoughts.


	9. Chapter 9

The two teenagers sprinted for their lives, trying to escape a herd of spooked evos. Rex thought one of the storks was calm enough to pet, obviously not. The thing let out a blood curdling screech and nearly bit his hand off. Taylor pulled him away just in time, running as fast as she could manage. Multiple birds had joined the first one, helping with the hunt. The angry herd was closing in, beaks so close they could have killed both of the teens right there. One was trying to get a grip of Taylors hair, nearly pulling out a chunk. Rex and Taylor were so close to freedom when two of the birds ran ahead, blocking the exit. They were surrounded.

"What now, WHAT NOW" Rex screamed in his head, "Oh wait...I really am an idiot"

Before he could react, he felt an intense heat by his side. Taylors whole body was engulfed with a mix of red and blue flames, and she looked pissed. She shot a fireball from her hand at the offending trio of birds, hitting one point blank on the head. It squawked in pain before retreating, the rest quickly followed suit. The flames around her extinguished, smoke trails floating above her.

Rex pushed the button for the exit, revealing a very ticked off looking Six. They both looked down at their feet. He instructed Taylor to either to her room or to the lab with Holiday. She solemnly walked towards the lab. Six waited for her to be out of sight before talking to Rex.

"What were thinking bringing her in there and not to mention, nearly killing her!"

"...I'm sorry Six...I didn't mean-

"Didn't mean to what? Endanger both of your lives? I know you can handle your own in there but that doesn't mean she can"

"Lay off me Six! Didn't you see her, she can handle herself just fine"

"Very well but she's still unstable. We're lucky she could manage to put herself out without too much trouble"

"The whole time she's been here, she hasn't done anything or 'lost control' like you keep saying, why are you so paranoid?!"

"You were out when the incident happened, weren't you?" Six sighed

"What are you talking about!" Rex shouted, "What incident?"

"A few days ago, during training, she was unable to dissipate the flames. Anybody who tried to approach her suffered 3rd degree burns. We had to flood the area to put out the fire. She passed out and had to be in the infirmary for a while" He noted the teens stunned face, "You and Taylor will be separated for the time being. I don't want to hear anymore about it"

The slender agent walked off towards the lab, to see if Holiday had broken the news to Taylor yet. Rex stood motionless outside the Petting Zoo. Because of paranoia, he had pretty much lost someone he really trusted...and liked.

_Meanwhile..._

"Taylor calm down" Holiday said soothingly, "I don't like this either but we have no choice"

The teen reacted quite badly to her new arrangement. Her fists were surrounded by flame, body shaking, as she tried to control herself. She couldn't believe this! The one thing that made her feel safe and happy was being taken away for one mistake.


	10. Chapter 10

And then everybody exploded and died, the end

**a/n: I'm really sorry but I have to end this. I've run out of ideas and haven't watched the show for a very long time. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it but it has to end. I want to move on to other things so please understand why I'm doing this. **


End file.
